


Only For a Night

by artificialblood



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Emetophobia, Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:00:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24138505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/artificialblood/pseuds/artificialblood
Summary: Seokmin's roommate leaves him alone with his quiet friend. No big deal. These things happen.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 7





	Only For a Night

Seokmin tugged at the yellow threads of his sweater. He was bored. Soonyoung was gone and he had nothing to do but sit around and wait for him to get back. Well, he could go out. Maybe he could call up some friends and actually do something with the little bit of daylight he had left. Or he could sit on the couch and continue to stare at the ceiling.

Three solid knocks at the door was all it took to make him jump. He sighed leaning his head back against the couch and placing his hand on his chest. He really shouldn’t scare so easily. Just as his breath began to steady there were three more knocks, this time a little harder. He pushed himself off the couch and stretched his arms out above his head. He mumbles thinking about how Soonyoung must have forgotten his keys _again_. As he approached the front door, he could hear the wind outside pick up; getting harsher with each step he took. He found it odd since it had been perfectly still a moment before. Upon opening the door, he was met with an intense stare and what he assumed was a question.

“Seokmin?”

“Me? I- yes?” He stumbled over he words while his mind tried to process the situation. His eyes scanned the man before him. He was on the shorter side, wearing and black t-shirt that was neatly tucked into a pair of grey sweats. An old looking, beat up bag sat near his feet.

“Jihoon.”

Jihoon? Jihoon! He remembered that his roommate, Soonyoung, had mentioned that a friend of his needed a place to stay for a night. He also recalled that Soonyoung was supposed to pick him up from- the airport? Was that it? He couldn’t remember. He peeked over Jihoon’s shoulder to look at the driveway. The sun was bright and blurred a lot of his vision, but he couldn’t see a car. Soonyoung was nowhere in sight. So then how did he get here? His thoughts were promptly interrupted when Jihoon cleared his throat.

“Uh sorry.” He shook his head thinking about how dumb he must’ve looked. He watched as Jihoon silently threw his bag over his shoulder and brushed past him to enter the house.

“Ok then...” Seokmin thought to himself. Jihoon was a little odd, but it was probably weird to be staying with someone he had just met, even if it was just for a night. He found himself lost in thought once more and had to remind himself of the guest that stood in the living room.

“I- uh…I thought Soonyoung was supposed to be-”

“Busy.” Seokmin pursed his lips. It was starting to get awkward. Usually he could talk for hours, but he got the feeling Jihoon wasn’t much of a talker. In fact, the man hadn’t said more than three words to him since he answered the door.

He gestured for Jihoon to follow him and he did. It would have been completely silent if it weren’t for their footsteps and the, now roaring, winds outside. When they enter the hall Seokmin began pointing out each of the rooms. First door on the right was Soonyoung’s and next to it was the guest room.

“And at the very end of the hall is mine! Right across from the bathroom.”

“Thank you.”

“Two words? I think you’re starting to warm up to me, Jihoon.” Seokmin laughed heartily and nudged Jihoon’s shoulder. A faint noise escaped Jihoon. It was so soft that Seokmin might have missed it if he hadn’t been standing next to him. It sounded like a click. He figured that it was away to suppress his laughter, or maybe just click of the tongue to signal that he wanted to be left alone.

“I’ll be in my room if you need me for, uh, anything.”

Jihoon nodded and proceeded to enter the room, leaving Seokmin standing in the hall alone. That was his cue to leave. He slipped into his room and fell back onto his bed. He thought of sending Soonyoung a text, or even calling him to express his annoyance for not having been there to make things less awkward between him and Jihoon. He decided against it. Soonyoung was probably just busy and figured that he wouldn’t need to babysit two adult men. Instead he decided to send a simple text: _Your friend is here._ He sighed and closed his eyes. This was only for a night.

* * *

The wind was uproarious at this point. Various sizes of sticks and leaves hit the window so hard it could break. Seokmin’s eyes flutter open and he groaned. He hadn’t meant to fall asleep. He reached for his phone. It was 10pm. In his notifications was a text from Soonyoung:

_Cool hes usually pretty quiet so he won’t bother u. he only gets irritated when you interrupt his sleep ^^_

He assumed that was his way of telling him that Jihoon didn’t want to be bothered, but he still wanted to make sure he was doing alright. Did he need anything? He just wanted to check. It was in his nature to make sure the people around him were happy. He couldn’t help it.

He opened the door and peeked down the hall. It was _mostly_ normal. Around this time, music would usually be blaring from Soonyoung’s room, but not tonight. It was also quite dark. Much darker than it usually got it in the house. Seokmin crept out into the hall and glanced at where Jihoon’s door would be if he could see it. Maybe before he knocked, he should see if Soonyoung was home first. He wasn’t scared or anything…just curious. As he walked down the hall, he dragged his hand along the wall trying to feel for a handle or a light switch. He felt nothing. Odd. He shook his head, telling himself to calm down. He _really_ shouldn’t scare so easily.

“Soonyoung?” he spoke aloud. He needed to hear something other than the wind outside and the thumping of his heart in his ears. If he were lucky, then he would even get an answer back. No Luck. The hallway was starting to seem longer and longer the more he walked. He was so wound up he felt as if he could pop at any moment. Maybe this was too much for him. Maybe he should turn back and just check on Jihoon in the morning.

“Why am I so freaked out?” he whispers to himself. Something was making him feel strange and he just wanted to go back to sleep. His now panic-stricken hands desperately searched the walls. He felt like he was losing his mind. The hall was so dark he couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or not. His chest tightened as if the darkness had wrapped tightly around him and refused to let go. Maybe he _was_ losing his mind. He didn’t know what was happening or why, but he wanted it to stop. Amid his frantic movement his hand strikes a metal object. He could feel every muscle in his body relax. It was a door handle.

Seokmin let out a shaky laugh. He felt silly about letting his nerves get to him. He took a couple of deep breaths to gather himself. That’s when he heard it. A sharp click. It was similar to the noise Jihoon made earlier, but much louder. He must have been in front of the guest room.

“Jihoon?” What he thought would be a confident question came out as a timid squeak. His hand gripped the handle, fearful of what he would see if he opened it. Another click. Then another. He pressed his ear against the door. It was silent at first, but after a few seconds he heard…something. There were sounds unlike anything he’d ever heard before. Disgusting, wet gagging and squelching noises that he was sure no human being could make and amidst all of that were the clicking noises that he was quickly growing terrified of. He wanted so badly to leave; to go back to his room, lie in his bed and hope this was a nightmare he could wake up from. His legs wouldn’t move. He stayed planted in front of the door, hands shivering around the handle. Every reasonable part his body screamed at him to turn and run; foughting with the tiny voice of curiosity in him that wanted him to go inside. Afterall, there was a possibility that Jihoon was in danger. He mustered up as much confidence a he could before he spoke,

“Jihoon I’m gonna come in, ok?” There was no answer. Seokmin took a deep breath and swung the door open. It was mostly dark aside from the small rays of moonlight that peeked through a thick black curtain on the opposite end of the room. He took a few steps forward and called out for Jihoon again. _Click._ Seokmin jumped back. It came from above him. _Click click click click._ A bunch of them, one after the other, and then a revolting gag and a cough. Something was dripping from the ceiling and into his hair. The liquid was odd and mucus-like, making him shiver as it slid down the side of his face.

“ _Don’t look up.”_ Seokmin repeated this to himself as he sprinted toward the window and shoved the heavy curtain to the side. There wasn’t much light, but it still burned his eyes. He leaned against the curtain, doing his best to keep the light coming in while his other hand wiped the goo off his face. When he looked down, he wanted to vomit. A black substance with an egg-like consistency coated his fingers. The putrid stench forced its way into his nostrils and his stomach churned.

“Seok..min.” The voice shattered the silence when it gurgled his name. His muscles tensed. More liquid dripped from above. Seokmin’s head shot up and he was met with the same intense look from when he opened the door earlier that day. Jihoon was upside down, clinging to the ceiling like some type of insect. He grinned as his bloodshot eyes stared into Seokmin’s. The vile black liquid trickled from between his teeth, dripping off his face and onto Seokmin’s cheek. He began to cough again, this time large amounts of the black sludge oozed from his mouth as his body lurched forward.

Before he could even comprehend exactly what was happening; Seokmin ran. He didn’t want to know who, or _what,_ Jihoon was, he just wanted to leave. Tears obscured his vision, but he forced himself to keep going until he was out of the room and out of the house. He wasn’t sure how far his legs would take him, but he was willing to go forever. Or at least until the clicking noises that followed behind, finally caught up to him.


End file.
